Product Code Database
Gladys Amelia Anslow (May 22, 1892 – March 31, 1969) was an American physicist who taught for over forty years at Smith College. She was the first woman to work with the cyclotron at the University of California, Berkeley and served in the Office of Scientific Research and Development during World War II.
In 1916 she began her graduate studies in advanced physics under Smith professor Janet T. Howell, taking Howell's course in spectroscopy. Howell introduced Anslow to the new Rowland grating spectrograph acquired by Smith College to research the emission spectra of radium, resulting in Anslow's thesis "Spectroscopic Evidence for the Electron Theory of Matter". Anslow graduated in 1917 with her A.M. Following her graduation, she was appointed instructor in physics at Smith College to replace Howell.
From July 1944 to December 1945, during World War II, Anslow was named head of the communications and information section of the Office of Field Services in the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), formerly the National Defense Research Committee (NRDC), which controlled the flow of classified information to the research community. For this work she was awarded the President's Certificate of Merit in 1949. It was unusual at the time for a woman to work at the OSRD, let alone in an influential administrative position. However, Anslow was not unique. Also working for the OSRD/NRDC at the time were Dorothy Walcott Weeks in the liaison office and Margaret Moses and Louise Kelley in the office of the Chairman.
Anslow was a member of the American Physical Society, where she was the president of the New England Section. She also served on the executive board of the American Association of Physics Teachers, as vice president of the Massachusetts division of the American Association of University Women and was the president of the Massachusetts division of Phi Beta Kappa.
Anslow retired from Smith College in 1960 as a Professor Emerita. Anslow died March 31, 1969, in Brookline, Massachusetts at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. Her papers are in the Smith College Libraries.
Sigma Delta Epsilon, a fraternal organization for women in science, named Anslow the year's "Woman in Science" by in 1950. In 1951 Anslow received a research award from the organization for her work on the ultraviolet spectra of protein molecules.
She received an honorary Sc. D. from Smith College and in 1967 was also awarded a Sophia Smith Fellowship from the college.
|
|
